Four Weeks in the Trenches

The past four weeks have been remarkable to say the least! It's been a time of exploration; making discoveries; and coming together as a cast. From day one it was pretty much understood that this was a special production, and as a result the process of bringing it to the stage was going to be an arduous one. Loosely based on writer/director Ahdri Zhina Mandiela's life growing up in Jamaica (a few of the characters are actually named after Ahdri's real-life siblings), Who Knew Grannie tells a wonderful story about the importance of family and the idea that when all else fails family will forever be there for you, and considering the times we live in now - with sex scandals galore and other negative headlines saturating the media - a reminder like this should always be welcome.

Week one was spent entirely on round table discussions about the text. The main goal was to ask Adhri as many questions as possible in order to help us (the actors) create the journey of our characters. A lot of personal stories were shared on that first week involving family members that have passed on; ancestral anecdotes; and epiphanies that were made while riding the GO bus into rehearsal! All in all that first week was instrumental in developing a firm and solid foundation for us to build off of once we got onto our feet in the following weeks to come.

Weeks two and three were all about discovering what works emotionally and physically for certain characters. What may have been successful one day turned out to be abysmal the next, and Ahdri never shied away from telling us what was, or wasn't, working. Adhri is a very liberal director, in that she gives us (her actors) complete freedom to explore the feelings and intentions that we need to before telling us what she thinks is right. Even then, if we're able to provide evidence supporting a particular decision Ahdri will allow it to happen as long as that evidence can be seen on stage. As a result, the rehearsal hall was always an open and honest space, which is a wonderful atmosphere to be in as an actor since it removes a lot of doubts and allows us to just be free and playful with one another.

The final week in the rehearsal hall was devoted to having a run-through of the play every day and then receiving notes from Ahdri on the positives and negatives. It's amazing the amount of work that can be accomplished in such a short period of time. In only four weeks we've been able to put together the meat and bones of a show...and this week coming the lighting, sound, set, costumes, etc. will all be flavours added to spice things up! Our first preview is this coming Saturday at 8pm and it's an exciting time for us in the cast because we've all been working extremely hard and look forward to hearing/seeing the response once we open. We know its a powerful show. We know how touching the story is. We know how moving the production will be. We just can't wait to get started!!